


my atoms, love your atoms

by wakemeup



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: AU, And they talk science, CEO Lena Luthor, F/F, I really really really couldn't get this out of my head, Kara loves sweets, Lena doesn't, Pastry Chef Kara Danvers, Sam is a little shit who teases Lena non-stop, but she ends up liking Kara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 12:26:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14402112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wakemeup/pseuds/wakemeup
Summary: In which Kara is a pastry chef and Lena doesn't even like sweets, but ends up falling in love anyways.orI had to write this AU because it wouldn't leave ma lone. It's light and dorky and they talk science together.





	my atoms, love your atoms

The thing is, she absolutely adores Samantha Arias, loves her so much she considers Ruby, Sam’s daughter, a niece of her own.

That is precisely the reason she ends up fast walking, practically sprinting, down ninth street trying to get to _Butter Luck_ by the 12:50 pick up time. Sam called about fifteen minutes ago begging Lena to pick up the cake that she had ordered for Ruby’s birthday party, the one Ruby swore she had to have otherwise _no one will come, Mom!_

Sam had rambled on about the ridiculous moon-bounce obstacle course that isn’t inflating properly and the balloons that the party planner completely forgot. Sam has to run across town to pick up the last of the supplies and Lena is the closest to the dessert and pastry shop.

Lena agrees, easily, because Ruby is her only niece and she knows what disappointment feels like. What she doesn’t expect that the line is wrapped around the block and she’s not sure if she’s allowed to cut the line due to the order.

She thinks about it critically for a second, before sliding her sunglasses on walking past the crowd of people - the confidence that comes with being the youngest CEO in National City coming in handy.

The raven-haired woman walks with purpose to the counter, waiting for the man there to give her his attention. She notices his name is Winn, according to his name tag.

“Hello, Miss! Welcome to Butter Luck, how can I help you today?” Winn sends her a dazzling smile and she lifts her sunglasses up, “I have an order for Sam for pick up at 12:50?”

“Oh, yes! Absolutely. Let me just go get that for you!” He rushes back through a door she assumes leads into the kitchen. She takes a moment to look around the shop, its interior small, but packed with glass cases of desserts and pastries. Her eyes skim over the people trying to get in the door. It must be a popular place, she thinks.

She’s not the best at recognizing fads, especially the hottest dessert or latest food trend. Admittedly, her assistant often has an intern run out to grab food on her busiest days. When she does eat without take out - it’s normally because she’s cooking herself at home.

“This is your order! I’ll open it up and you can inspect it before leaving.” Winn pops open the cake box for her to peer into the box. _Happy birthday, Rudy!_ it reads.

Her eyebrows furrow and she lifts her head up to look at the young man. “This is supposed to say, Happy Birthday Ruby,” she emphasizes the b in Ruby’s name and channels her most unimpressed face.

“This is for my niece and it’s really important that it’s correct.” 

“Oh no!” She gives Winn credit, he looks genuinely concerned and almost winces at her words. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to have someone fix this right up for you.” He shakes his head apologetically before disappearing again.

Lena goes back to peering at the glass cases and at the gorgeous looking desserts. _A Sprinkle In Time, To Kill a Macaroon, Love me S’more!, Doughn’t Eat Me, The Devil's Food Cake Wears Prada._ Lena finds herself internally chuckling at the ridiculous names, it seems impractical for them to be so long, but she appreciates the bakers clear love of puns and pop-culture.

“Miss?” 

Lena’s head snaps up to look up, not expecting a woman’s voice.

“Yes?” She responds, surprised when a beautiful blonde woman, not much older than herself is in front of her. Lena’s own green eyes captured by the brilliant blue of the other woman.

“I’m so so so incredibly sorry that there was a mistake on your order. I have replaced the custom writing myself and hope that that suffices. We don’t often make mistakes like this. I mean, I’m terrible at spelling since it isn’t my first language, but usually we’re good about this and - oh golly” The blonde woman’s hands are flying in express concern as she explains.

“My name is Kara, I own this place and I wanted to make sure you knew that we take mistakes very seriously. Here is a coupon for a sweet treat, hopefully you’ll come back?” Kara is proud of herself for not rambling on too much, Winn says she has a knack for talking customers ears off, when what they really want is the sweets in the cases. She argues she’s charming, he responds that as her business partner, he’s only trying to sell the goods she makes. The thing is, she knows this is Lena Luthor in front of her, and she doesn’t know how to control her rambling, especially when she’s within ten feet of a gorgeous successful woman.

Lena only blinks and smiles in response, she barely caught the woman’s words as she had spoken so quickly and with such intent - and to be honest, Lena was too busy taking in her clearly dirty apron and the flour on her neck. 

“Of course, I understand. Thank you for correcting it.” Lena responds. She smiles at Kara, charmed by her flustered appearance and her phone rings before either can say anything more. She keeps her eyes locked on Kara as she answers the call.

“Lena! Please tell me you’re on your way? I think parents have started to arrive and I desperately need you here to help me fend off the judgement that I get from all these white suburban moms that think I can’t raise a daughter alone.” Sam rushes out, clearly stressed.

“Yes, yes, I’m on my way.” Lena waves at Kara before picking up the cake and walking out the store, the line only having grown longer as she’s been in there.

She flags a taxi and rattles off Sam’s address, continuing to listen to her best friend’s rant about the party and the stepford wives that will most definitely be drinking _all of my wine, Lena!_ She zones out temporarily, thinking about the woman she just met, blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman, with the cutest glasses and her earnest demeanor. She shakes her head, refocusing as she steps out of the taxi and hangs up on Sam without a word.

She struts up to the soft blue door and opens it, immediately hit with loud noises of a twelve year olds party. She navigates the familiar way into the open kitchen and drops the cake down before seeking out the brunette.

Lena is completely unimpressed with her best friend, as she’s hiding away in the deep pantry.

“It’s entirely rude to hang up on someone without warning, Lena Luthor.” Lena rolls her eyes, tempted to tease the woman back.

“Let’s go shmooze, darling. And you need to tell me where my favorite niece is immediately. I have gifts to spoil her with.”  

Sam shoves Lena’s shoulder playfully as she exits the pantry, “You’re going to have to stop that. Eventually she’s going to realize that you’ll give her the world Lena, and she’ll actually be a brat.”

Lena only laughs, she knows it’s not really about money. She wants Ruby to know that she pays attention to her wants, that she has someone else who loves her too, another family member.

They spend the next three hours talking to Ruby’s friends’ parents about school, Sam’s home, and parenting styles. At one point, someone mistakes Lena as Sam’s partner, and Sam just doubles over in laughter as Lena only shoves her over, causing the fit to only increase.

When it comes time to cut the cake, Ruby is already on a sugar high and Lena only feels slightly bad that Sam will have to deal with the aftermath. She’s not a large fan of sweets herself, and initially declines the offer for a slice, but Sam practically shoves it in her hands and points her head towards her daughter who is looking at Lena expectedly.

Lena sighs before taking the fork and shoving a sizable amount in her mouth, ready to fake a smile for Ruby’s sake.

She doesn’t really expect to like it, but she’s wrong as the taste settles on her tongue. The cake isn’t overly sweet, the texture light and airy, the buttercream smooth. She finds texture in the filling and almost moans at the light espresso flavor. She doesn’t have to fake how much she likes it.

She finds herself thinking about the blonde again.

 

* * *

 

It’s nearly two weeks later, after an especially rough day in the labs that she finds herself craving that cake. She _never_ craves sugar, had long ago weaned herself off-white sugars totally, understanding the benefits of a healthy diet - _she was a scientist, dammit_. But of course, like many things, it only took one hit to hook you right back in.

The thing is, every time she thinks about that cake, she also thinks about Kara.

She’d never admit it out loud, but she had googled the woman after she got back to her home after Ruby’s party.

Kara Danvers was a young star in the pastry world - only twenty three! The blue-eyed woman had attended L’Academie de Cuisine and had done an apprenticeship in Paris before returning to National City to open up her own little shop. Lena had ended up in a wiki-hole before realizing that she was reading article after article about the woman’s imaginative confections, completely enraptured by the smile on every cover the woman was on.

Even more dazzling, was that Kara was adamant about her food being sourced from environmentally friendly and fair-trade businesses. Lena’s own company focused on reversing the effects of climate change and solving key problems in the developing and developed world. She felt silly, knew the flutter in the stomach over a girl she met _once_ was a crush developing. Maybe she was star-struck, she thought.

She frustratingly ran her fingers through her hair - shifting her focus to the components in front of. None of these objects were usable, not even worth having been 3D printed. It’d been three months since R&D had come up with anything worth marketing, anything worth excitement. She’s had no better luck on her own.

Lena packs up her things quickly, determined to get her sugar fix, and maybe even see the blonde again - and put this waste of a day behind her. Even happier that she still had that coupon that Kara had given her.

The raven-haired woman may be a CEO, she may even be genius levels of smart, but what she was really terrible at, was schedules. That’s why she had Jess, and in hindsight, she’d have looked up or even asked Jess on her way out what time _Butter Luck_ was open till.

She found herself in front of the bakery as the doors were clearly closed, sign flipped to _“Butter luck tomorrow!”_ She’s on her heel, turning to call a cab back to her apartment downtown, when she hears the door open, bell dinging as it does.

“Miss Luthor!” Kara says, feigning surprise. She had heard footsteps outside the shop, and used her x-ray vision to spot the woman from the kitchen. She was happily surprised to find her there, and after a moment of internal debate, she ran to open the door.

“Kara,” Lena spins around in surprise. She wonders how Kara knows her name.

“Were you looking for another cake?” Kara asks, holding the door open and gesturing Lena in.

Lena opens her mouth to respond in an affirmative, but her brain has other ideas. “Actually, I was wondering if you were interested in catering?” Lena absolutely wants to smack her head against the counter. She doesn’t have an event for Kara to cater!

Kara eyes widen in surprise. She fidgets with her glasses, a nervous habit that her sister Alex had pointed out.

Lena clearly picks up on the nervousness and quickly backtracks, “I mean, I loved the cake, and I’m not a large fan of desserts, but I just thought maybe you’d be interested in collaborating? I read about your love of sustainability, and ethically sourced food and I think we could work well together.” And _fuck_ Lena didn’t mean to say she read about Kara.

“Yes! Absolutely, yes incredible, wow!” Kara is _really_ bad at keeping her cool, clearly.

“Really?” Lena asks, hesitantly.

“That sounds amazing, like an amazing collaboration.” Kara’s hands are flying around again in pure excitement, Lena resists the urge to smile from ear to ear - and thinks she’s failing terribly.

“What’s the event? When is it? I haven’t done one in awhile, not since Paris, but I would need to talk it over with Winn, who is um, he’s my business partner. I think you met him when you picked up your cake last time, he’s really awesome, and totally better at the business side of this than I am.” Kara shuts up abruptly, knowing she rambled - _again_.

Lena internally panics, she doesn’t have an event! She’s quick on her feet though, and the last few years as CEO have sharpened her ability to create proposals from absolutely nothing.

“I was thinking an Earth day event? The goal is to bring together as many industry heads as we can, specifically in industries that often overlook being environmentally conscious and have a gala with a small keynote about taking care of the Earth. We’ll be showcasing companies that do a great job at shifting consumer tendencies to be more eco-friendly. Tables will be sold and we’ll have all the money go to a charity of LCorps choosing.” She can’t help but smile at herself, she’s good at this.

“Golly, Miss Luthor that sounds so amazing and you want _me_ to cater this?” _Who says golly anymore_ Kara thinks, internally facepalming.

“Please, call me Lena.” Kara nods excitedly. “I want you to cater this because you’ll do an amazing job. I don’t even like sweets and your cake was delicious.”

They talk enthusiastically for the next half an hour or so and Lena gets Kara’s information, promising to have her assistant reach out to her and Winn to set up a more formal meeting to discuss event details and budgets. When Lena does leave, she’s got a smile plastered on her face and it nearly _hurts_ because it’s been stuck there as she watched Kara talk excitedly about potential flavors and vendors.

When she’s in a cab, on her way home she picks up the phone and speed dials her best friend. As soon as Sam answers she says, “I need you to run numbers and see what kind of budget we could pull together for a gala on Earth Day - April 22nd.”

Sam groans, this is the problem with the chief financial officer being best friends with the CEO - they’re sometimes always talking shop.

“Lena, what the hell. It’s like eight at night and you’re thinking up event ideas?” Sam says incredulously. “Isn’t that marketing’s job?!”

“I know! But I might have already promised a caterer and it’d be a good event!” Lena responds, entirely too defensively.

“What? Who?”

“ _Butter Luck_? I...” She absolutely does not want to say she sought out more cake, because Sam would tease her endlessly, and she doesn’t want to admit that she couldn’t stop thinking about Kara, because that teasing would be worse, “I ran into Kara, who owns the shop and we were talking and I just thought it would be a good idea?”

“Kara? You’re on a first name basis with the owner of that bakery and I somehow had to pay for the cake like a normal human?”

“No! It’s new, like I met her when I got Ruby’s cake.” Sam can hear the way Lena’s responding, slightly unsure of her words, as if she’s not sure if she should be lying. She’s known Lena for over a decade now, and she sure as hell knows what that means.

“Oh my god, you have a fucking crush on her.” Lena groans, she could hang up the phone and completely ignore Sam. Before she can, Sam is laughing hysterically, “you totally made up this event as you talked to her didn’t you? You’re so nervous around cute girls, you always end up trying to one-up your own thoughts.”

“Sam, shut up!”

“No - this totally beats the time in college when you learned how to make latte art to impress that one girl because she told you she liked it _once!_ ”

God, Lena hates having such a long history with Sam, the woman never forgot anything and never let an opportunity to make fun of the young Luthor slip through the cracks.

“Just run the numbers Sam, I’m sending you an email explaining a short proposal tonight. I want to pitch it tomorrow.” Lena says, trying to end the teasing before it gets to levels of embarrassing she’d rather not relive sober.

 

* * *

  

Kara waits until Lena is safely in her cab before literally fist pumping into the air in triumph. She speeds into the kitchen to quickly clean up before changing into her Supergirl outfit.

She launches herself into the sky - heading straight to Lucy and Alex's place.

“Supergirl? You’re not on duty tonight.” Alex’s voice comes through the comms, no doubt alerted by the vitals that get sent through whenever Kara changes into her superhero persona.

“Hi! No - sorry. Just in a rush to get to Lucy’s!”

“You okay?” Her sister’s voice is full of concern.

“Yes! Completely! Very good!” Alex only laughs at the enthusiasm, she’ll be sure to find out why Kara is so excited when she gets to her girlfriend’s after work.

 “Don’t fill her up with sugar again Kara, she’s almost worse than you on an ice cream infused high.”

“No promises!” Kara responds, laughing.

Kara gently slides into the window that Lucy and Alex always keep open for her, coming to a soft thud as she lands on their hardwood floors.

“LUCE!” Kara tells, probably a little too loud for the small apartment.

“God Kara, I keep telling Alex we should add a bell to that window.” Lucy responds, peeking out from their at-home office that doubles as Lucy’s yoga room.

“What would be the fun in that?” Kara pouts for a second before her smile wins over. 

Lucy only shakes her head, “to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?”

“Lena Luthor!” Lucy looks at the superhero in confusion.

“Did I miss the news? Did she win another award for her green tech?”

“No!”

“Did she ask Supergirl help distribute supplies again?”

“No!”

“Are you going to make me keep guessing?” Lucy says, making her way into the kitchen, where Kara’s say herself on their counter (reinforced steel - because after their first two months of living there Kara had broken a marble, a granite, and a beautiful quartz countertop. They can’t have nice things - _clearly_.)

“Lena Luthor came to _Butter Luck_ to ask Kara Danvers to cater a huge event she’s having on Earth Day!” Lucy stifles the laugh that bubbles up at Kara’s enthusiasm. God damn Danver’s sisters and their expressive faces. 

“Wow! Your girl crush finally comes to you!” Lucy doesn’t hold back the laugh now, as Kara’s face turns a deep shade of red.

“Rao! I said I thought she was cute _once_.”

“Well, you’re not necessarily convincing me that you’re not crushing on her now.”

“She came to pick up a cake a few weeks ago and I rambled on forever _and_ I made a mistake on her cake and I thought she’d never come back.” Kara hops off the counter now, basically floats over to the freezer to grab a pint of Americone Dream.

“I mean Winn said I didn’t do anything _too_ embarrassing, but golly, she was so pretty and I only ever see her as Supergirl!”

“Kara calm down before you accidentally bite the spoon!” Lucy remembers the first time that happened - Kara nearly swallowed the whole thing.

“Oops, sorry.” The blonde flushed red again before offering Lucy a spoon and the pint to share.

“Did you say yes?” Lucy says, after a few bites. 

“Of course! I told her Winn and I would meet and she said she’ll reach out with a time.”

“April 22 Earth Day? That’s only like two months away? That’s a little late to ask for a caterer.”

Kara’s eyebrows furrow, before her eyes widen, “you don’t think I was her second choice, do you? I mean that’s not a bad thing, what if she only came to me because she had to? Oh Rao, that would suck.”

Lucy feels slightly bad for worrying the younger Danver. “No! I mean, she’s the CEO of an incredibly successful company. She came to you in person right?”

Kara nods, scooping an obscenely large amount of ice cream into her mouth.

“So that means a lot - and what exactly did she say?”

“She said she loved the cake that she picked up and that she thought we’d make a good collaboration because of my focus on sustainably sourcing my foods.”

“Wow, never mind. I think she picked you.” Lucy says firmly, Alex will kill her if she accidentally makes Kara mopey. Mopey Kara hangs around their apartment and eats non-stop. Last time it took nearly three weeks to get Kara back to her sugary sweet self.

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“I’m so nervous, I mean she’s gorgeous and every time she’s called on me as Supergirl, it’s to help with her projects, which is incredible, I mean Luce she’s _so smart_! I can’t believe she doesn’t already have a Nobel Peace Prize for her work on helping with the water filtration crisis in Detroit and the incredible Life Straws she made for developing nations. I mean she’s literally helped the United Nations with the Millennium Development Goals - they practically offered her to run the program, but she said _no_ because she didn’t want to get too far away from the science!”

Lucy has heard this before, almost every time Lena comes up in conversation, or is on the news. It’s silly that Kara thinks it was just that _once_ that she spoke about Lena being cute as an indicator for her crush. Lucy resists the urge to roll her eyes, Kara’s gushing about the other woman.

“I mean, it was genius having me fly the crates of goods to Africa and SouthEast Asia because it cut the cost for the poor to receive the tech she created and helped to make it accessible!”

“Kara - oh my god, yes I know!” Lucy lightly shoves the younger girl, and Kara playfully allows her.

Before either of them can start bickering the door unlocks and Alex steps through.

“I figured neither of you thought about Dinner so I stopped by the Chinese place on fifth.”

Kara practically flies over to Alex, grabbing the two bags of take-out from her. “This is why you’re my favorite sister.

“Only sister, Kara.”

“No - technically Lucy is one too.” Kara sticks her tongue out in defiance and Alex blushes at the implication that Lucy, _her girlfriend_ , would one day be her wife. She coughs to hide her thoughts, “Get the plates.”

“I don’t know why you insist on plates.”

“Because Kara, we’d rather not have Chinese take out permanently on our furniture.” Alex responds pointedly.

“Uh huh, whatever.”

 Alex rolls her eyes, walking over to Lucy and giving her a kiss hello. Kara throws a fried wonton chip at the two.

“What did I miss?” Alex says once they’ve settled down around the kitchen island to eat their dinner, Kara nearly done already. 

“Oh no - not again.” Lucy says playfully, but Kara launches into her story, Lena this and Lena that. Honestly, it’s not even like Lucy minds, the younger of the Danver’s sister deserves happiness, and maybe Lena Luthor is finally noticing. 

 

* * *

 

A week later, Kara is excitedly dragging Winn Schott out of LCorps building. “Kara - Kar, slow down!” Winn practically screams as the blonde immediately stops and Winn winces as he runs right into the brick wall that is Kara’s back.

Kara spins around and looks at Winn apologetically. “That went so well! I’m so excited. I think the budget is fantastic too! I mean nearly 30 tables of 8 people, 240 total and plated desserts. This is wonderful!” 

“It’ll be great exposure and we need to look into upping our staff for this and Lena seemed to _looooove_ you.” Winn says, exaggerating the love and making Kara blush again. It’s too easy he thinks, Kara is smitten.

“Shut up, no. Pfft, she is amazing. No way. Pfft.” Kara accidentally slaps Winn a little hard and he is thankful that all the cake lifting has helped him get a bit more muscle to protect himself.

He lets slide how dopey Kara looks, instead asking, “Do you have any idea what flavors we’re looking for? Who we should contact for the ingredients we’ll need?”

“Hmm, no. I mean, I’ve been thinking about it and can do some whimsical desserts, really end the night on a high note.”

“Why don’t you ask Lena to come to our test kitchen with you?” Winn could practically pat himself on the back for helping this. He should talk to Lucy, maybe they can plot together. He makes a mental note to loop James in too.

“That’s a great idea!” Kara skips as Winn lightly jogs behind. “We only have about seven weeks to test and source everything, and then scale and do some run-throughs,” Kara says, already lifting her phone to her face to send Lena an email.

She sends it off, requesting a day this week the two can get together.

 

* * *

 

Lena has Jess clear her schedule for Thursday afternoon, instructing her that any emergencies should be sent to her immediately, but that otherwise, business could be directed appropriately. Jess doesn’t bother asking where she’s going, knowing that it may have to do with _Butter Luck_ , and cheekily asks her boss to bring her back some sweets the next day.

Lena rolls her eyes and thinks again that hiring Jess was probably the best and worst thing she’s ever done as CEO.

The CEO stops by Sam’s office a floor below hers before heading out, entering it without knocking, as she’s known to do. “Sam, what do I wear?”

“What?” Sam doesn’t bother looking up from her work, too invested in the spreadsheet that has an incorrect number somewhere in the nine hundred cells of data. She really needs to hire some new staff to do this work.

“I’m going to _Butter Luck's_ test kitchen downtown - you know, for the gala that we’re hosting. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing?”  

Sam’s eyes snap up and she smirks at the younger woman.

“Ah, so you’re going to see Kara.”

“Why did I bother coming in here?” Lena says, plopping down on Sam’s couch.

“Because despite how much I embarrass you, I give incredible advice.”

“I think we need to redefine the word incredible here.”

“I’m going to tell you to wear a burlap bag then.”

“Sam, c’moooon.” Lena whines, shoving a pillow over her face as she feels a blush creeping up her neck. 

“I mean, you are a CEO, she won’t be surprised if you show up in your work clothes?”

“Yes, but I doubt a pencil skirt and blouse are ideal for a kitchen.”

“You’re acting like this is a date.” Sam really can’t resist teasing her.

“What? No! I just don’t want to show up dressed for the wrong thing.”

“Then go change into your black jeans and one of your v-necks. I’m sure she’ll have an extra apron somewhere.”

Lena thinks maybe that’s too casual.

“Anyways, isn’t the thing in like thirty minutes? Shouldn’t you be going like now?” Lena groans and curses her terrible sense of time again.

“Fuck, alright. I’m going.” She leaves as she hears Sam laughing at her expense again.

Lena makes her way to her apartment, thankful that Kara’s test kitchen is only a few blocks north of her home. She changes into the first pair of jeans she has and one of her softer V-neck T-shirts. It’s too casual for her liking, but it’s comfortable and she doesn’t have much time to think twice about it.

With only five minutes to spare she’s walking into an inconspicuous building. She doesn’t find anyone in what she assumes is a reception area and she pulls up Kara’s email to her.

Kara had left her her personal number incase she had trouble finding the spot and she texts the woman. “Hey this is Lena, I think I’m in the building?” It’s about thirty seconds later when she hears footsteps and Kara is walking through a set of double doors.

Lena can’t help but admire the other woman’s look, slightly disheveled, button up half untucked and blue jeans dusted with a bit of flour or confectionary sugar. Her hair is tied up loosely, glasses perched on her face.

“Lena, I’m so sorry, I lost track of time, I was supposed to be here waiting for you.”

“It’s quite alright, Kara. I didn’t wait long.” Kara smiles and nods, “Follow me! I’m so excited you could make time to meet me. I know I could do this alone, but it’s so much more fun with two people and your input will surely make this better.”

Lena smiles and nods as Kara guides them down a long hallway. She practically runs into Kara when the woman stops abruptly and spins around.

“Some rules first.” Lena almost laughs at how scrunched up Kara’s face gets in seriousness. She holds it back, knowing it’d be slightly rude.

“Okay.” 

“One: you have to wear an apron. I’ve had too many people walk out with clothes ruined. Two: you can lick the spoon, but if you get food poisoning it’s totally not my fault. Three: you absolutely must say what you mean.”

Lena’s eyebrow raises at the last rule.

“You can’t lie if something tastes bad, it only misleads the process, you have to be honest about your inquiries and criticisms.” Kara nods to finish, attempting to portray how important this is.

And Lena agrees, for a moment seeing more to Kara than the immediately meets the eye.

“Okay great!” Kara claps her hands together enthusiastically and pushes doors open into a well lit run, windows opening up into a view of National City’s harbor. There are rows of steel metal tables, an entire wall lined with supplies, baking sheets, utensils, machines, and test ovens and machines dispersed throughout the floor.

“Wow, this isn’t unlike one of my labs.” Lena says, impressed with the state of the room.

“I designed it after a lab.” Kara shrugs, leading them to a table with a few mixing bowls and ingredients already laid out.

She hands Lena an apron as they pass by a rack of them and Lena throws it over her neck. Kara moves around her to help to it in the back. “There you go, all set.” Kara’s hands linger on her hip for a second before refocusing on the task ahead.

The blonde is entirely too distracted by the white V-neck and the pale skin beneath. Lena looks ridiculously cute in an apron.

“So, what did you want to do today? I read your email, but I have to admit, I haven’t ever really baked before - and when I did it ended up in hockey pucks that were supposed to be cookies?” Lena admits, embarrassingly.

“I wasn’t too great it to begin with either. Don’t worry! We’re going to do some taste testing today and maybe try to put together flavor profiles you’re interested in.” Kara feels more in control in this kitchen, much like she does in does in her Supergirl outfit. These are familiar things - despite the serious butterflies in her stomach.

Lena nods and watches as Kara goes over to some refrigerators to pull out some ingredients.

“Okay, great! I’m so excited for this.” Lena finds herself unable to stop smiling at the woman. Blue eyes light and practically sparkling with uncontrollable excitement. She tries not to melt when Kara comes right next to her, showing her the ingredients, shoulders touching.

“I’ve got some strawberries here, lets do strawberries and basil to get you started? It’s a classic, balance of flavors.” Lena nods, watching as Kara deftly slices up some strawberries and puts some sort of green caviar on top, offering the spoon to Lena.

If Lena was thinking, she would’ve used her hands to grab the spoon from the woman, but instead, in her stupid, completely broken brain way - she leans forward and takes it into her mouth.

Her eyes widen as she takes in the flavors, completely caught off guard as the small green dots pop in her mouth, bursting with a savory basil flavor. She tastes a bit of salt as well, but doesn’t remember seeing Kara put any on the berries.

“What the fuck?” Lena says hand flying to her mouth as the curse word slips out. Kara laughs, smiling at the reaction.

“That good? Or that bad?”

“Good! So good!”

“I’m glad!”

“What is this? How did you do this?” Lena says, peering down intensely at the green caviar and the strawberries.

“I can’t give you all my secrets, Miss Luthor.” Kara winks - and then immediately internally winces at her attempt at flirting.

“I insist, this is really great. I mean, I’m not one for sweets like I said before, so I’ve never ventured towards anything dessert related and I’m finding that you’re turning all those assumptions on their head.” Lena praises, delighted as Kara flushes at the compliment.

“Well, you consider yourself a scientist, right?” Kara asks, pushing up her glasses as she does so, increasingly aware of Lena arm against hers.

“Yes?” Lena responds.

“The thing is, baking is science - Lena. It’s exact in its requirements for perfection, but it does require a creative mind.” Lena listens, enraptured by the way Kara’s voice almost softens as she speaks, enthusiasm there, but second to the passion she hears coming through.

“The basil caviar is created through an easy molecular gastronomy trick. It’s called Spherification. You take any liquid juice and you miss in alginate, from algae, and you drop it into a water calcium bath. It creates a precipitation reaction and you get a thin film and these little spheres people liken to caviar. I sourced the strawberries from local farms that don’t use any artificial processes and actually - wow - they use your water filtration to take water from their local streams to feed the berries, giving them more flavor. I added salt to the basil juice to balance a bit of the full sweetness. I usually serve this with ice cream or a pastry, but for the purposes of today I just wanted to test your palate.”

Lena hangs onto every word, completely delighted to hear Kara speak in terms she somewhat understands. She’s more than a little attracted to nerd behind confectionary queen Kara Danvers.

“How did you get a handle on the science?” Lena asks, wondering if that’s something they taught at the blonde’s culinary school.

“I was supposed to go to school for a medical or pharmaceutical degree, but I always loved sweets, to a fault really. And I just thought, why not take a chance and do it? I was already at Stanford for a year, but transferred to L’Academie de Cuisine shortly after. I tried to apply similar scientific methods to the way I cooked and baked and it worked incredibly well.” Kara smiles, “I was raised by scientist, my sister Alex got a bio-engineering degree from Stanford and my foster parents were scientists as well.”

“That’s amazing, did you find that it was well accepted in school? Applying that sort of thinking to cooking? I would think that people would treasure creativity.” Lena responds.

“Actually, it’s the technique that I found people valued. You had to execute to the best of your abilities, and then you could explore within that, much like science. It feels natural now, to intertwine the two together.”

“Is that why your kitchen is set up like a lab?” Kara nods.

“I bet you feel at home in it, though.” The blonde says, knowing full well that Lena prefers to spend her days in her own lab at LCorp than in the board room or her office.

“It’s familiar. It’s easier being in a lab than anywhere else.”

“I can understand that.”

“Did you know I used to run R&D before I became CEO?” Lena asks and Kara shakes her head no, even though she does know. She doesn’t want Lena to think she’s creepy.

“I did, then well, you know. Lex had LCorp and it’s only been a few years since I took over, but turning it from a big oil company into a green company looking to reverse climate change.” Lena sighs, she probably could have held this information back - but she oddly feels comfortable with Kara. She feels inclined to reciprocate the way Kara so easily shares herself with her.

Kara gently touches Lena’s arm, squeezing in reassurance. “You’re doing amazing, Lena. You’re really solving problems and making a difference. You’re doing so much _good_.”

“It hardly removes the bad that LuthorCorp caused over the past decade. I mean Lex had to cause a goddamn oil spill for people to realize that it was a bad company.” Lena feels heavy now, annoyed at herself for talking about this so with Kara.

“Lena, you’re doing all you can.”

“I can always do more.” Kara understands the need for perfection. She doesn’t tell Lena that she knows that Lena turned the entire company around, looking at clean renewable energy and employing scientists who were at the front of their field in climate change. That Lena created a new sector of LCorp, one she personally oversees that looks to solve vexing issues that face the developing world, from infrastructure to food insecurity. She doesn’t say anything because technically Supergirl was there for that particular press conference, and not Kara Danvers.

“Here, try this.” Kara plates what Lena thinks is peaches and on a crispy cracker with cream.

Lena does it again, just leans over and takes it right from Kara’s hands with her mouth. Kara has to control herself as Lena does so, lips almost grazing her fingers as they close around the treat. She practically breaks another table as Lena moans at the taste.

“You’re outdoing yourself, Miss Danvers,” Lena says as she chews thoughtfully.

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Kara responds, impressed with herself.

“You’re ruining me for all other desserts. I don’t understand how you’re doing this.” Kara bites her lip in response.

“It’s nectarine, grown from the same farm as the strawberries and a rosemary brown butter cracker and a vanilla bean whip. 

“Absolutely ridiculous,” Lena responds. “I didn’t see any of these sorts of desserts at your shop?”  
  
“I don’t serve more balanced desserts there. It’s usually more sugary goodness, that’s what the people want. Or at least, Winn’s market analysis says so.” Kara shrugs.

“I’m really glad we’re having this gala then. People should taste this.”

“I’m glad you have faith in me, but I’d like to come up with some more flavor profiles that you like, and maybe some whimsical displays for the night.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Lena replies, as Kara continues to plate flavor combinations. She thinks maybe she’s got it bad.

 

* * *

 

Lucy keeps telling the blonde to own up and ask the woman on a date, but everytime Kara tries she ends up rambling about something completely off topic. She blames Lena’s eyes. They’re so easy to get lost in - way too distracting to be legal.

It’s the following Saturday that Kara gets a text from the young Luthor, asking Kara if she’s free to stop by LCorp.

**_Lena_** _: Kara, I wanted to return the favor and invite you to my ‘test kitchen,’ are you free this afternoon?_

**_Kara:_ ** _Why’re you in a lab on a Saturday?!_

**_Lena_** _: No rest for the wicked, darling._

Kara blushes at Lena’s use of darling, she knows Lena does this on purpose, they’ve been texting non-stop since Thursday, Kara on the pretense of the gala, and Lena responding as enthusiastically. She’s never been this attached to her phone. Alex even tried stealing it one time, before Kara ‘unfairly’ used her super speed to get it back.

 **_Kara_** _:_  It depends on what wicked things you have planned, Miss Luthor.

She’s proud of herself for being able to flirt right back but knows that in person, it’s a whole different story. Stupid Lena and her stupid looks.

 **_Lena:_ ** _Come by and you’ll find out._

So, of course, she’s going to go, despite the fact that she ends up bailing on her brunch with Alex - giving up sinfully delicious pancakes from their favorite place.

 **_Alex_ :** _She better be worth missing our bonding time!_

Alex responds knowingly, and Kara just shakes her head, willing to deal with that later.

 

* * *

 

Lena nervously paces through her lab. She had invited Kara on a whim, wanting to see the other woman, despite knowing they had just seen each other this past Thursday.

She doesn’t even have anything to share with the other woman, no new tech, but she just wanted to see her. 

This is why she shouldn’t text, spontaneity is not her thing. But Kara responds almost immediately and flirts back in ways that make even Lena blush, and she wants to see the woman more than she cares about her own pride right now.

Having it bad is a complete understatement.

Before she can pace any further, she gets a text from Kara signaling that she’s here and she’s walking briskly out of the lab and down to LCorps lobby.

Kara’s there, in some ripped denim jeans and a pastel pink button up and some white converses and Lena has to resist the urge to walk right up and kiss her.

Kara on the other hand, meets Lena right by the elevators and hugs the other woman. Lena practically melts into the hug, feeling Kara’s strong arms around her - likely from the mixing and lifting she does in the kitchen. Kara smells of vanilla and something slightly floral, and Lena’s hooked.

“So,” Kara says, rubbing the back of her neck once she’s pulled away from the hug, embarrassment in her features. She could feel Lena’s heartbeat right up against her own chest, it felt so intimate - _Rao,_ she really needs to get herself together and ask this woman out.

“So - yes, let’s go.” Lena leads them into the elevator and they fall into easy conversation as they walk to the lab.

 It’s Lena who spins around this time to pin Kara with a serious look. “My turn for the rules, darling.”

Kara would choke if she had been drinking water because that smoldering look and the smile Lena’s trying to hide isn’t cute, it’s sexy. Kara nods in response, unable to come up with words.

“One: Ask before you touch because I don’t want you getting hurt. Two: You have to wear goggles if we start any experimentations. Three: Do not leave any reactions you start unattended.” Lena finishes, knowing the last rule is an innuendo and hoping Kara picks up on her flirting.

Lena is immediately rewarded as Kara laughs.

They walk into the lab side by side, and Kara looks around in awe. LCorp has some of the most advanced technologies, and this is Lena’s favorite lab - it’s practically her private one, as she comes her often throughout the day and night to work on new ideas.

“So this is where you think up how to save the world, huh?”

“Hardly - I can’t even come up with any new solutions as of late,” Lena responds. 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I haven’t really been able to focus on any new products. The life straw and filtration systems are a success, but I want to tackle so much more and I just keep getting stuck.” Lena responds, hands pointing to the models on her work bench clearly in disarray and various stages of completion.

“Hmmm.” Kara responds, looking carefully at the products. She’s slightly out of her element here, but she thinks that maybe the processes aren’t so different. “Take it back to the basics.” Kara says, after a minute.

“What?”

“Have you thought about what it is you’re trying to solve lately, a simple question?”

“I try to - but lately I’ve been taking what our R&D leads have offered and tinkering from there.”

“I’m not sure if this helps, but when I get stuck on something I try to go back to simple recipes that I could do in my sleep - for instance, a macaroon, or a buttercream cake. After that, I try to think about what emotions I’m trying to evoke from my customers or questions to flavor combinations that haven’t been asked yet.” Kara responds.

“You’ve developed about forty different patents, haven’t you?” Lena nods.

“So, let's go back to the questions you asked that took you to those ideas.” Kara rolls up her sleeve and grabs an expo marker before making her way to a white board.

“Hunger, access to water, ensuring environmental sustainability, universal primary education, gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, and other diseases, and sustainable development,” Lena says, having memorized the UN Development Goals she was obsessed with during her short stint in college. Kara jots them all down on the board.

“Which of these speaks to you today?” Kara asks adorable crinkle as a result of her concentration.

“Universal primary education.” Lena responds.

Kara smiles, she is continually awed by Lena’s pursuit to better the world. “What is the biggest problem when it comes to access to universal primary education?"

Lena thinks intently, hand fisted under her chin, biting her lip. “Access to books, technology, modern day supplies. There aren’t enough schools, aren’t enough supplies, and not nearly enough infrastructure to provide the worst areas with better tools.” Lena says.

They go on like that for nearly an hour, Kara incessantly asking questions that require Lena to exercise her knowledge on the matter - thinking about how to develop something usable, something accessible. It’s a half hour in that Lena realizes that Kara’s not only taking her back to the basics, but asking the questions in a way that forces Lena to think more creatively.

Eventually the seriousness breaks when Kara accidentally gets red expo marker on her forehead. “Oh, golly.”

Lena laughs openly, walking up to the blonde woman and licking her finger before wiping off the marker. Kara’s laughing then too, hands rested on Lena’s waist as Lena works off the mark.

The words come out of her mouth before she can help it, “Are you made of Copper and Tellurium? Because you are Cu-Te.”

There’s a moment of silence where Kara thinks she’s just ruined the only chance she’s got with Lena Luthor, but then Lena is literally doubled over laughing, her forehead resting on Kara’s shoulder as she wheezes out laugh after laugh. Kara would face-palm if Lena wasn’t on her right now.

She uses the moment to wrap her arms around Lena, tugging her closer, pinching her side in mock annoyance at the green-eyed woman’s reaction.

“I’d walk out right now but rule number three is do not leave any reactions you start unattended and clearly you’re having quite the reaction,” Kara says, not even able to fake an annoyed tone as Lena continues to laugh.

She’s been holding that pick up line in since she was at Stanford and _now_ it decides to slip out of her mouth?! There’s no way she’s telling Lucy, Alex, or Winn about this.

Lena leans back once her laughing subsides, looking at Kara, green eyes shining, almost teary-eyed from the laughter.

“Kara?” Lena practically whispers - Kara can feel the moment shifting into something else.

“Hmm?” She responds, eyes dropping to Lena’s lips and back up to her green eyes - she’s got specks of gold in them - Kara wonders if they show in the summer when the suns hanging in the sky.

“I think that’s the best thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Lena says.

Lena feels herself leaning forward, Kara’s hands still around her waist holding their hips together. She feels so close to the other woman, compelled by the smell of vanilla, her deep blue eyes, the stupid crinkle.

As her lips touch Kara’s, her eyes slip close, softly pressing herself closer, closer, closer to Kara.

The blonde’s grip only tightens in response, right hand coming up to lightly grasp at the back of Lena’s exposed neck. She feels her own lips moving in response now, and the gentle tug of Lena’s teeth on her bottom lip.

Lena is the one who pulls away taking a deep breath as she does so. Kara finds it adorable how Lena’s eyes stay closed for another few seconds before they open, eyes dilated and smile on her lips.

Kara thinks, this is why she protects National City, this is why she fights every damn day.

Later that night, she gets a text from Lena that has her smiling into her pillow.

**_Lena_** _: Are you on the periodic table? Because you are SODIUM fine. ;)_

**Author's Note:**

> I took a break from my head is filled with ruins to write this, because it wouldn't leave me alone. I have about another chapter planned, but happy to hear more ideas to write into it! It's just been fun to write this one.
> 
> Comments and kudos much appreciated!


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